MPs tell Ofsted to reinspect all councils on CSE

The watchdog was heavily criticised by the communities and local government select committee for failing to detect large-scale child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Rotherham.

A report published by the committee on the child abuse scandal in Rotherham said Ofsted’s inspection framework at the time “lacked sufficient focus" on child sexual exploitation.

The committee recognised that the inspectorate has since updated its inspection framework to put a greater emphasis on CSE but its chair Clive Betts MP, warned that Ofsted’s "credibility is now on the line".

He called on Ofsted to reinspect all councils in England “at the earliest opportunity” to ensure that they have identified and are tackling CSE.

Betts said: “The perpetrators bear ultimate responsibility for the sexual exploitation of children in Rotherham but the ineffectiveness of Ofsted’s inspections contributed to a failure to expose the extent of the problem and to detect Rotherham Council’s ongoing and tragic inability to combat it on the ground.

“The shortcomings in Ofsted’s inspection arrangements until 2013 leave serious concerns that organised child sexual exploitation in other local authorities may have been missed.”

Other concerns raised about Ofsted in relation to its inspections in Rotherham were that it “failed to get under the skin of what was happening.”